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The former CEO of ad tech firm Undertone is starting his second act with his own investment fund — and his first big bet is an e-commerce agency
22/8/2018

  • Ad tech veteran and former Undertone CEO and chairman Michael Cassidy has launched a family office fund, and his first big investment is in e-commerce agency BVAccel.
  • The idea is that as brands try to navigate e-commerce and build their own digital storefronts, agency partners like BVAccel can help them.
  • The fund, called August Spark, aims to address the gap in investor expertise in the marketing and businesses services space, according to Cassidy.

Ad tech veteran Michael Cassidy is embarking on his second act – and his first big bet is on the future of e-commerce.

The former CEO and chairman of ad tech company Undertone is trying to build a portfolio of profitable companies centered around technology and marketing services through August Spark, a family office fund he launched 18 months ago and runs with cofounder Stephen Wall.

His first big investment is in San Diego-based e-commerce agency BVAccel, which helps design, build, and optimize digital storefronts for several hot and up-and-coming direct-to-consumer brands. It also provides marketing services to clients, using data to map out the customer journey and optimize their e-commerce websites for conversion.

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Merion Announces New Investment in eCommerce Solutions Company

Merion Investment Partners III, L.P. is pleased to announce a new investment in Brand Value Accelerator, LLC (“BVAccel”).  Merion provided subordinated debt and equity to support the acquisition of BVAccel by a family office.

Headquartered in San Diego, CA, BVAccel is an eCommerce solutions agency and the largest Shopify Plus focused implementation consulting firm in the world.  The Company’s comprehensive service offering of Design & Development, Strategy & Optimization and Marketing Services allows it to serve as a leading one-stop shop for retailers and brands looking to expand their online commerce presence.

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IPS (a Merion Portfolio Company) Teams Up with Goin’ Postal

International Package Shipping Teams Up with Goin’ Postal to Offer Low-cost Shipping Alternative

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. & ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. – April 3, 2018 – PRLog — Goin’ Postal, a chain of retail shipping & receiving stores with hundreds of locations across the United States and International Package Shipping, a consumer-to-consumer consolidated shipping service to 43 European countries, today announced an innovative agreement that provides all Goin’ Postal franchisee owners and their customers access to utilize the low-cost shipping services that International Package Shipping offers.

All Goin’ Postal franchisee store owners are now able to expand their service offering and provide a new and exciting low-cost international shipping alternative to their customers.  The collaboration between Goin’ Postal and International Package Shipping enables cost-conscious customers to ship internationally for far less than previously possible while still getting reliable and trackable delivery.  Goin’ Postal’s more than 180 shipping outlets are conveniently located near dry cleaners, hardware stores, convenience stores and other neighborhood retail establishments; allowing its customers convenience and reach.  A list of the current Goin’ Postal locations across the United States can be found at https://www.goinpostal.com/locations/.
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Merion Announces New Investment in Credit Reporting Agency

Merion Investment Partners III, L.P. is pleased to announce a new investment in Consolidated Information Services Solutions (“CISS”). Merion provided subordinated debt to support the acquisition of CISS by a single family office.

Headquartered in Allamuchy, NJ, the Company is a leading provider of credit reports and complementary services to mortgage lenders, brokers and banks. CISS provides outstanding customer service and offers unique features such as customizable layouts and summaries to its reports.

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Revint Solutions Announces Acquisition of Naveos, a Merion portfolio company

CHADDS FORD, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Revint Solutions (“Revint”) today announced its acquisition of Naveos, a market leader in specialized government reimbursement technology and services for healthcare providers. The addition of Naveos’ capabilities, talent, and relationships further advances Revint’s mission to provide a comprehensive “safety net” to healthcare organizations through a full, technology-enabled suite of revenue integrity and complex reimbursement solutions.

Naveos, founded in 2006, is a market leader in governmental program reimbursement. Naveos leverages its proprietary COMPASS software, data analytics, and specialized workforce in order to help healthcare organizations maximize the value of their government program reimbursements, identifying approximately $1 billion of additional reimbursements for its clients to date. Naveos’ product set includes analytics related to Medicare and Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH), Worksheet S-10 / Uncompensated Care, and the 340B Drug Pricing Program. Naveos’ DSH products consistently outperform peers and in-house alternatives, while the S-10 solution represents a newly developed, claims-level data analytics product that is unmatched in the market. The Naveos team will remain with the combined company and continue to lead the business unit going forward.
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Naveos, a Merion Portfolio Company, is Acquired by Revint Solutions

Revint Solutions, a Chadds Ford-based firm that specializes in medical-payment collections, said Tuesday it is acquiring Naveos, a Virginia firm focused on “government reimbursement technology and services for healthcare providers.”

Revint clients include “over 200 health systems across 48 states,” including some of the largest hospital systems in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to Hicok, who declined to name specific clients. Revint claims 1,500 clients in total, and says it “helps recover over $150 million of underpaid or unidentified revenue” for them annually.
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Merion Announces New Investment in Athletic Clubs

Merion Investment Partners III, L.P. is pleased to announce a new investment in Tru Fit Athletic Clubs. Merion provided capital to complete the recapitalization of Tru Fit Athletic Clubs and the simultaneous acquisition of Freedom Fitness (collectively the “Company”), the two largest fitness club chains in the Rio Grande Valley. Headquartered in McAllen, Texas, the Company has a growing membership base across 13 locations throughout the Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio operating under the Tru Fit brand.

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Polonez Parcel Services, a Merion portfolio company, announces partnership with UPS

ATLANTA, Ga., and W. SPRINGFIELD, Ma. – Oct. 4, 2017 – UPS (NYSE:UPS), the world’s largest package delivery company and Polonez Parcel Service, a consumer-to-consumer consolidated shipping service into Poland and other countries, today announced an innovative agreement that provides Polonez Parcel Service customers in the United States an easy parcel drop-off point at more than 8,700 UPS Access Points™ including 5,000 The UPS Store® locations.

Polonez Parcel Service customers can experience the ease of transacting business online at www.polonezparcelservice.com and then drop-off their pre-paid shipments at convenient UPS Access Point locations throughout the United States. UPS Access Point locations are a nearby The UPS Store,® dry cleaner, hardware store, convenience store or other neighborhood retail establishment. UPS Access Point™ addresses can be found at www.ups.com/accesspoint.

“The UPS Access Point locations augment our existing Authorized Shipping Outlet network and give us extensive coverage for convenient and cost-effective connections, so our consumers can ship to more than 30 countries,” said Polonez Parcel Service, CEO Tom Nightingale.
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Energage raises $15M, plans Philly office, new hires

Philadelphia, PA – October 5, 2017 – Energage, the Merion portfolio company previously known as Workplace Dynamics, has raised $15 million from investors and is looking to open a new office in Philadelphia, using 10 years’ worth of corporate employee surveys as a basis for new “HR tech” services it expects will elevate its profile among clients and technology investors.

 “Our model has changed quite a bit. We have a whole new round of offerings in our employee-engagement platform, just two weeks ahead of the HR Tech Conference in Las Vegas,” said Fraser Marlow, director of research at Energage, which employs 110. Part of the money will be used for expansion. Energage wants to open an office in Philadelphia to hire more “creative staff and programmers,” said Marlow, a GE veteran who is among several senior managers joining the company in the last year. “We’ve interviewed quite a few who wanted to work for us” he said.
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Merion Announces Exit from Energage, formerly known as WorkPlace

Merion Investment Partners is excited to announce a successful exit from WorkplaceDynamics, LLC (“WorkplaceDynamics”), a leading provider of employee engagement solutions. Headquartered in Exton, PA., WorkplaceDynamics has leveraged years of deep experience in workplace research and neuroscience to develop the industry’s first employee-centric end-to-end engagement platform.

Merion, as the sole institutional investor, originally invested in the company in 2013 to support a management recapitalization which left the current CEO as controlling shareholder. Over the next several years the company was successful in increasing service offerings and growing sales at a 29% CAGR. Merion believes this transaction reflects the profile of how we work directly with management to provide capital and resources to small businesses in order to help them achieve the next level of growth.